ANAHEIM, CALIF.—In a city known for producing point guards as a natural resource, two of its most recent success stories forged an unbreakable bond along with one of the coaches that helped them to that point.

As teammates at Rice High in Harlem, N.Y., Kemba Walker and Lamont “MoMo” Jones struck a relationship that borders on brotherhood. And they also formed a tight one with Emanuel “Book” Richardson, whom Walker calls a brother and uncle and Jones calls his godfather.

But Richardson’s and Jones’ relationships with Walker will go up in flames for a few hours Saturday when Walker leads third-seeded Connecticut against Jones, assistant coach Richardson and fifth-seeded Arizona in the West Region final at the Honda Center with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

“It’s always going to be love. That’s like my brother, but that’s off the court,” said Jones, a 6-foot sophomore guard from Harlem. “When you’re on the court, you’re enemies.”

Walker, a junior guard and national player of the year candidate, grew up in The Bronx before teaming with Jones at Rice and with the famed New York Gauchos AAU team.

Kevin Parrom, another Bronx product and Arizona forward, played with Walker and Jones on the Gauchos while Richardson was the program’s director. Richardson is now a Wildcats assistant and the man Walker screamed “They can’t guard me!” at after draining a 3-pointer against San Diego State on Thursday.

Someone from Arizona will have to find a way to guard Walker, however, a feat no one has been able to accomplish during Connecticut’s current eight-game winning streak. Walker, who modestly acknowledged he is a difficult cover after hanging 36 points on San Diego State, is averaging 27.1 points during that stretch.

Richardson doesn’t know whom best matches up with Walker, but what he does know is Walker and Jones’ personalities. Both have slept on Richardson’s couch. They ate at his home, rode in his car and looked at his wife, Erin, as a second mother.

Richardson met Walker when he was 10 years old and became his basketball mentor, keeping Walker in line with tough love and honesty. He would kick Walker out of the gym if he didn’t work hard enough in practice and when Walker told him as a sophomore he wanted to attend Connecticut, Richardson told Walker he wasn’t good enough.

“I sat him down and said, ‘Son, you’re not good enough to play there,’ ” Richardson said. “And Coach Calhoun at that point had the program rolling and had NBA guards and I didn’t know if that was Kemba.”

A couple years later, with Compton-bred point guard Brandon Jennings waffling about committing to Connecticut or going to play professionally overseas, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun decided to go with the sure thing in Walker, who has now become one of the sport’s most dynamic talents.

Jones’ relationship with Richardson is just as tight as Walker’s, but it’s on a different level.

When Jones was 8, his stepfather, Clarence Sims Jr. was caught in gun crossfire and killed a block from where Jones lived. Every single day, Jones had to walk over the spot where Sims was murdered.

That wore on Jones and he decided to transfer from Rice after two years and eventually ended up at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. The decision to leave New York was a way for Jones, who has several tattoos in remembrance of Sims, to keep his sanity.

“It’s hard to grow up in New York. It’s hard to go through the things I’ve gone through in my life and stay the course,” Jones said. “(My friends) understood why I had to leave. They understood that it was more about me getting my head straight than being a basketball player.”

Richardson took care of Jones like he was his son, even becoming his godfather after Sims’ murder.

“That kid has been through a lot,” Richardson said between pauses as he wiped tears off his face. “I’m just happy because he could have turned out a lot of different ways.”

Basketball is Jones’ outlet, allowing him to take out any frustration or anger in a controlled environment.

“He’s been through a lot and it helped him mature as a person and a player,” Walker said. “He doesn’t take anything for granted. He uses basketball (as an outlet).

“That guy, he’s my brother.”

Jones echoes that.

“It’s bigger than basketball with us and when you build friendships like that, it’s something that lasts,” Jones said. “One day this game will end for the both of us, and that’s something we will still have.”

And as for the Elite Eight game that features those two, along with Parrom and Richardson, Jones put it simply and accurately.